A Taste of Sichuan'd Wild Side
Hello, and welcome to the gateway to the mountains - Sichuan.
This is a province full of high mountains, wide-open landscapes, Tibetan culture and ranchers.
This 5-day itinerary offers just a small taste of what Sichuan is all about - including multiple mountain lookout points offering incredible views, short hikes, Tibetan temples and activities like horse-riding.
If you only ahve a few days to spend in the region, this is the itinerary for you.
Tips for a Sichuan adventure:
The west of Sichuan is a fascinating place, but here are some things to be aware of.
Driving conditions - The roads are generally poor, with landslides each year taking down roads. For that reason a lot fo the roads will change slightly or end up as off-road sections. With that in mind, if you're self-driving then I highly recommend getting a large SUV-type car.
If you would rather hiring a driver, you can add Xi Peng on wechat - he is a reliable and friendly driver. Just let him know Alex Feal sent you!
Language - English is not widely spoken here so it'd be good to download a solid translator to be able to communicate.
You can add people on wechat and allow the app to do the translating for you too.
Signal - Dpending on your carrier, a lot of the region won't have cell coverage, so be sure to have things like maps, translators etc downloaded in advance, as well as carrying some cash for if you can't pay with Alipay.
Altitude - A lot of the places in Western Sichuan are at high altitude (between 4,000m-5,000m) and altitude sickness can set in. I'd highly recommend having a bottle of Oxygen just in case. You can pick these up at most stores once you hit Kangding and further beyond.
